Simon
si·mon
noun
United States singer and songwriter (born in 1942)
United States playwright noted for light comedies (born in 1927)
United States economist and psychologist who pioneered in the development of cognitive science (1916-2001)
Origin
Uncertain. One theory suggests derivation from a joke based on the bible verse Acts 9:43, rendered as “Peter lodged with Simon a tanner”, a pun on the meanings of lodge (“stay in a place; put away money”). Partridge suggests that this not possible given the dates, however, and suggests instead derivation from some unknown person’s name. Attested from the late 17th century, with synonymous tanner attested from the 18th. Compare also simony, from a different biblical figure, Simon Magnus. The “US dollar” sense derives from the earlier “sixpence”, perhaps influenced by the $ symbol.
Related words
Word family
WordNet 2.1 (Princeton University). Wiktionary (CC BY-SA). CMU Pronouncing Dictionary. WordNet 2.1 Copyright Princeton University. All rights reserved. Wiktionary content is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike Licence.